In elderly people's homes and nursing homes it is often difficult to ensure that disposable materials are changed within a time scale recommended by the manufacturer. The application period and/or expiry date of the materials are often only provided on the outside of the packaging, while the disposable material itself is not provided with these dates. Similarly, with many current disposable materials, the color of the packaging can change or a sound can be produced by an audio device, upon reaching the expiry date. This may be part of the packaging, such that a certain period after the packaging seal has been broken, the change can and/or sound can be implemented. Another area of application is the use of infusion sets for insulin pump therapy, in which the infusion sets are replaced by the diabetic themselves or a relative. Experience has shown that, even if these persons are not especially handicapped and despite the fact that they are specifically trained, they often forget to replace the disposable materials, resulting in reduced insulin absorption in the tissue and complications such as for example inflammation.
Other current implementations include noting the relevant data on a separate protocol sheet, using an infusion set clock (which is a device similar to a parking disc), and disabling the infusion set electronically if the infusion set includes an integral data memory.